Chapter I: Establishment and powers.

Commercial courts hear: 1° Disputes relating to commitments between merchants, between craftsmen, between credit institutions, between finance companies or between them; 2° Those relating to commercial companies; 3° Those relating to commercial acts between all persons. However, the parties may, at the time they contract, agree to submit the disputes listed above to arbitration. By way of exception, where the guarantee of a commercial debt has not been taken out…

The Commercial Courts shall hear, within the limits of their jurisdiction, claims brought pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 861/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 July 2007 establishing a European Small Claims Procedure.

The commercial court hears promissory notes bearing the signatures of both traders and non-traders at the same time. However, it is obliged to refer to the judicial court if it is requested to do so by the defendant where the promissory notes bear only the signatures of non-traders and do not arise from trade, traffic, exchange, banking or brokerage transactions.

Notwithstanding 2° of article L. 721-3 and subject to the jurisdiction of the disciplinary courts and notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, the civil courts alone have jurisdiction to hear legal actions in which one of the parties is a company formed in accordance with the loi n° 90-1258 du 31 décembre 1990 relative à l’exercice sous forme de sociétés des professions libérales soumises à un statut législatif ou réglementaire…

The commercial courts do not have jurisdiction over actions brought against a landowner, farmer or winegrower, for the sale of foodstuffs from his own land, or actions brought against a trader, for payment for foodstuffs and goods purchased for his particular use. Nevertheless, notes subscribed by a trader are deemed to be made for his trade.

The president of the commercial court may hear, concurrently with the enforcement judge, where they are intended to preserve a claim falling within the jurisdiction of the commercial court and are requested before any legal proceedings, protective measures relating to: 1° Movable and immovable property in the cases and conditions provided for by the Code of Civil Enforcement Procedures; 2° Ships in the cases and conditions provided for by the…